Egypt expects to become an observer in Astana talks on Syria

Almaty. October 27. Silkroadnews - Egypt agrees to act as an observer at the Astana talks on Syria in late October if invited, the country’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Counselor Ahmed Abu Zeid said, the Kazakh Telegraph Agency (KazTAG) reports.
According to the Russian media, he noted there was no such invitation so far, yet, as soon as it comes, Egypt would certainly take part in the meeting.
To remind, the Russian President’s Special Envoy on Syrian Settlement Alexander Lavrentiev earlier said the states that could be invited to act as observers in the Astana process are the PRC, the UAE, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon. Later the sources reported that Cairo allegedly had already received such an invitation and would participate in the next round of talks in Astana.
As reported, the seventh meeting within the framework of the Astana process for the settlement of the Syrian conflict is scheduled for October 30-31.
The previous international meeting on Syria was held in Astana on September 14-15. The talks completed the process of registration of all four zones of de-escalation in the Arab Republic started in May. The talks have been carried out with participation of delegations of the guarantor countries of the ceasefire (Russia, Turkey and Iran), the government of Syria and the Syrian armed opposition, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General Staffan de Mistura. The emissaries of Jordan and the U.S. took part in the meeting acting as observers.